I am a canadian psychiatrist myself and I have to agreed with the overprescrition problem for the children but with adult too. The problem is that people want easy-no sweat fixes for their difficulties in life and pharmaceuticals companies are happy to give them those "miraculous" easy fixes. Responsabilities about our own life is melting day by day. It's not the bad parenting, it's ADHD, it's not an impulsive jerk, it's bipolar disorder...

I completely agree.

People are popping pills constantly without even thinking of the effect it could have on their physical and mental health.

It seems like the smallest problem now has to be labelled some sort of "syndrome" and a drug needs to be prescribed for it.

Smells fishy to me.

Don't be so quick to blame the parents. The schools are quick to send problem children home, "he's disrupting the class. Get him to a doctor. We can't deal with him if he's not taking his medication" And the doctors are quick to prescribe medication. There's not really an alternative for 2 hard working parents, barely able to keep their heads above water. Expensive therapy and private schools are not an option.

Classes are too big for the teachers to spend extra time with the problem children. When I was young classes of 16-18 were normal, nowadays upto 30 is considered fine.

You make it sound like it's a problem just for children. Adults are also over prescribed drugs as well.

Any doctor who is caught accepting money or gifts from a pharmaceutical company should lose his medical licence permanently.

As others have said there's a general culture of over-medication, and it it shows a lot on over the counter drugs.

I mean, you sneeze twice and people are offering you a pill. You tell them it's probably nothing and they're like, "Well, why not take it anyway in the off-chance it actually is something? It's not like it does any harm anyway."

The only subscription I had as a child was Nintendo Power. My children won't be getting prescriptions unless they truly need it.

I was a teacher for one year at one of those prestigious High Schools. My classes ranged from 18 to 38 (yowser!), and my experience told me strongly that education starts with the parents. (in general) The kids that were respectful and decent had caring and involved parents - Parents that were sober in their thinking and set a good example. The kids that gave trouble invariably came from homes where proper conduct was not the order of the day.

"he's disrupting the class. Get him to a doctor. We can't deal with him if he's not taking his medication"

I never encountered statements like these. Before I went to the prestigious High School where the cost is about R25 000 per year (2 500 Euro) I was at a fully state run school with a school fee of R400 (40 Euro!) per year. In both schools he overwhelming majority of teachers tried their best at helping children and never made cold-hearted statemtens like this. Moreover, even in the poverty-stricken schools there were many well cultured children, which shows that its not a financial consideration, but one that starts with the integrity and nature of the parents themselves.

I see an almost one-to-one relation between the child's behaviour and the home he/she comes from, i.e. the home the parents have provided for their children. If parents are in a situation where,

''There's not really an alternative for 2 hard working parents, barely able to keep their heads above water''

The priviledge of raising and educating children is a tremendous responsibility and one that should only be undertaken when not in the situation where the 'head is merely kept above water'. Growing up in an environment like that is EXACTLY the reason for the erratic behaviour in most cases.

So why don't you want me to blame the parents? They are the cause of the child's life and should therefore ensure that he/she is raised in a nurturing and loving environment. Getting children is selfish and spineless if you are not able to create a happy home.

Absolutely disagree.

My children will get the drugs they need when they need them.

While it is a problem with adults and their plight shouldn't be disregarded (I probably should have gone with a general overall prescription drug abuse), I stuck with children since they are forced to take these medications.  Adults at least have a choice whether or not to take prescription drugs. 

There are a large group of doctors on the FDA panels that are in the pocket of drug companies.  Their rule #1 is that no one should serve on the panels if they have a conflict of interest.  However, rule #2 is that rule #1 can be waived (which they usually are).  About 50% or more of the FDA panels that decide about the drugs have a conflict of interest.  You can't have good regulation if the people that are deciding are in the pocket books of the drug companies.  Basically the FDA is a joke and a pawn of the prescription drug companies.

I do agree that the problem is more serious for children, but it is still serious for adults. Particularly because it would take a brave adult to disregard their doctor's advice to take some medicine.

It's sad, and unfortunately I can see no way around the problem any time soon.